Lake County staff roll out line‑item budget process; manager says new tools will improve transparency

Lake County Manager Candace Bridal and finance staff on Sept. 23 presented a new, line‑by‑line budget process to the Board of County Commissioners, saying the change is meant to give department directors more visibility into how revenue and expenses are coded and to improve long‑term planning.

Bridal, joined by finance staff including Will Enwon, told commissioners the county is moving toward a standardized packet each department will fill out — including a grants tab, account‑code detail and capital requests — and using Tyler’s positional budgeting module to model payroll and staffing scenarios. "This is the first time we've used this budget process," Bridal said during the session.

Staff said the packet asks departments to list grants with the grant name, award amount, match requirements and whether a grant is multiyear, so the county will retain that information if staff leave. The presentation also showed year‑to‑date actuals (through August), prior‑year activity, the 2026 preliminary budget and notes from staff meetings with department directors.

Why it matters

County staff said the new process should reduce miscoding of expenses, make contingency spending more…